Hand microphone



June 16, 1959 F. E. RUNGE HAL 2,891,131

HAND MICROPHONE Filed April 26, 1956 2 Sheat-Sheet 1 INVENTOR5 FRF/NK E.RUNGE BY DONHLD F BF/LMER HTTORNEY June 16, 1959 F. E. RUNGE ETAL HANDMICROPHONE Filed April 26. 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I INVENTORS F'R'HNK E.RUNGE Y DON/7L0 FBFILMER H TTORNEY United States Patent HAND MICROPHONEFrank E. Runge, Branford, and Donald F. Balmer, East River, Coun.,assignors to The Soundscriher Corporation, New Haven, Conn., acorporation of Connecticut Application April 26, 1956, Serial No.580,782

Claims. (Cl. 200-153) This invention relates to sound translatingdevices, and more particularly to a combined hand microphone and switchassembly.

In the operation of sound recording apparatus, it is often desirable toprovide a microphone which can be held in the hand, and to employ aswitch in the casing of the microphone to control the operation of themechanism to which the microphone is connected.- This is particularlyuseful in the case of dictating equipment, for permitting the personusing the microphone to stop and start the recording apparatus by meansof a switch which is accessible to the operators hand.

The most convenient arrangement is to provide a microphone switch buttonwhich may be moved slidably with respect to the casing by the thumb ofthe operator, the switch being maintained locked in closed circuitcondition until the switch button is slid manually in the oppositedirection.

The apparatus is also arranged so that the microphone circuit will beclosed momentarily When the switch button is inwardly depressed by theoperators thumb,

the circuit opening automatically when pressure is removed from theswitch button.

One object of this present invention is to provide a combined microphoneand switch assembly which may be operated with equal facility when heldin either hand of the user.

Another object is to provide a microphone switch having a slidableactuator button adapted to open or close the circuit, wherein thedirection of movement of the actuator may be reversed.

A further object is to provide a microphone switch having an actuatorwhich may either be depressed or moved slidably to control the circuit,and wherein the actuator may be arranged to perform such control byslidable movement in either one of two directions.

A further object is to provide a device of the above nature which willbe simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to installand manipulate, compact, ornamental in appearance, and very efiicientand durable in use.

With these and other objects in view there has been illustrated on theaccompanying drawings one form in which the invention may convenientlybe embodied in practice.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 represents one form of combined hand microphone and switchassembly embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a top view of the same.

Fig. 4 is a rear view of the same.

Fig. 5 is. a cross sectional elevation, on an enlarged scale taken onthe line 55 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional elevation also on an enlarged scale taken onthe line 66 of Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numerals denotecorresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral 10indicates a microphone casing, preferably molded of suitable plastic,and having a rear cover 11 removably secured to the case 10 by screws12.

The front of the case 10 is provided with a substantially oval shapedopening 13 within which is received a protective cupped grille 14 havingan outwardly turned lip which is received in an annular shoulder 16surrounding the interior of the opening 13.

A microphone diaphragm assembly 17, of conventional construction, andforming no part of this invention, is contained within the casing 10,and is secured therein by means of a yieldable pad 18, preferably ofsponge rubber, located between the back of the microphone assembly 17and the interior of the cover 11, and a yieldable soft rubber gasketring 19 is positioned between the lip and a flange 20 of the microphoneassembly 17. The pad 18 and the gasket ring 19 will be placed underslight compression when the microphone is assembled, in order to protectthe assembly 17 from damage due to accidental jarring of the casing 10.

The inside face of the cover 11 is provided with integrally molded ribs21 and 22. The rib 21 is vertically slotted as at 23 and 24 to receiveloosely a pair of flexible metallic contact members 25 and 26 which arebent at right angles to extend substantially horizontally in spacedparallel relationship below the top of the case 10. The contact member26 is separated from the contact member 25 by a rounded shoulder 27molded integrally with the rib 21. The rib 22 is arranged to form anabutment for the free end of the flexible contact member 25 when thelatter is forced below this abutment under slight deformation, duringassembly. A pair of connecting wires 28 for the contact members 25 and26 and connectors 29 for the diaphragm 17, lead into a cable 29 having aflanged grommet 30. The walls of the casing 10 and the cover 11 aresuitably recessed to secure the grommet 30 in place between them whenthe cover 11 is in position.

A rectangular opening 31 is formed at the top of the apparatus bycomplementary elongated recesses in the rear of the casing 10, and inthe cover 11. A rectangu lar switch actuator button 32 projects upwardlythrough the opening 31 and is held in place by a base 33 which extendslongitudinally outwardly from both ends of the bottom of said button 32.The button 32 itself is made shorter than the length of the opening topermit lengthwise movement, While the length of the base 33 will be madesulficient to close the opening 31 in all positions of the button. Thecontact member 26 is bent to form an upwardly projecting hump 34 whichis centrally positioned with respect to the opening 31 and bearsyieldably upwardly against the bottom of the base 33 of the button 32.

Operation The arrangement just described permits the circuit to whichthe connecting wires 28 are connected, such as the driving motor of adictating machine, to be controled by three different manipulations ofthe switch button 32.

As shown in Fig. 5, the position of the button 32 is such that thecircuit is open. However, if the button 32 is moved to the left to thefull extent permitted by the length of the opening 31, the cam surface35 will move the contact member 26 downwardly into engagement with thecontact member 25 to close the circuit controlled by the wires 28. Theamount of downward displacement of the contact member 26 will be at amaximum when the downwardly projecting ridge 37 of said contact memberbears against the upwardly projecting hump 34, at which time the contactmember 25 will also be moved downwardly so that its free end will bespaced downwardly away from the end of the rib 22. However, the lengthof the opening 31 is such that the button 32 will not have reached itslimit of movement in the left hand direction until the ridge 37 haspassed beyond and slightly to the left of the hump 34, at which time thecam surface 36 will bear against it.

Since the inclination of the cam surface 36 is opposite to that of thecam surface 35, the upward pressure exerted by the deformation of thecontact members 26 and 25 will tend to yieldingly hold the button 32 inits left hand position.

In addition, the angle of upward inclination of the cam surface 36 beingless than that of the cam surface 35, the contacts 26 and 25 will stillbe depressed downwardly an amount sutlicient to keep the circuitcontrolled by the wires 28 closed until such time as the button 32 isagain moved to the right hand end of the opening 31, as shown in Fig. 5.

If more convenient for the user, the operation of the switch button 32may be reversed by removing the back cover 11 from the casing 10, andreversing, end for end, the position of the switch button 32, so thatthe cam surface 35 will be on the right hand side, and the cam surface36 on the left hand side of the device. Under these conditions, thecontact member 26 will be in its uppermost open circuit position, out ofengagement with the contact member 25, when the switch button 32 ispositioned at the left hand end of the opening 31, and

the circuit through the wires 28 will be closed by movement of theswitch button to the right hand end of open ing 31. This reversal of theoperation of the button 32 is made possible because of the fact thatwhile the upwardly projecting hump 34 of the contact 26 is positionedcentrally of the opening 31, the downwardly projecting ridge 37 of thebutton 32 is ofiset longitudinally with respect to the longitudinallimits of movement of said button.

It will be apparent that a third manipulation consists merely ofdepressing the button 32 in a vertically downward direction to bring thecontact member 26 into engagement with the contact member 25momentarily, for short periods of dictation.

It will thus be seen that the arrangement described,.

permits the microphone casing to be held in either hand with the frontof the microphone facing the users mouth while the switch button 32 maybe slidably moved to locked position by the thumb or forefinger inwhichever direction is most convenient to the user.

One advantage of this invention is the ease with which it may beassembled or taken apart. All of the ele ments contained within thecasing 10 are secured in place by the rear cover 11. When the cover 11is removed, by unscrewing the four screws 12, not only may the button 32be reversed, but all of the components, including the contact membersand 26, the microphone assembly 17, the gasket ring 19, the grille 14,the associated wires 28 and 29, together with the grommet can be easilylifted out of the casing for replacement or repairs.

While there has been disclosed in this specification one form in whichthe invention may be embodied it is to be understood that this form isshown for the purpose of illustration only and that the invention is notlimited to the specific disclosure but may be modified and embodied invarious other equivalent forms with out departing from its spirit.

Having thus fully described the invention what is claimed as new and forwhich it is desired to secure Letters Patent is:

1. In a combined hand microphone and switch mecha nism, an enclosurehaving an elongated opening in one 4 face thereof, a switch buttonlocated in said enclosure and having a body portion loosely extendingthrough said elongated opening, said switch button having an elongatedbase below said opening extending longitudinally beyond both ends ofsaid body portion and operative to prevent outward movement of saidbutton through said opening, the bottom of said base having a pair oflongitudinally downwardly convergent fiat cam surfaces defining an apexportion which is longitudinally ofiset with respect to the center ofsaid 'base, the ends of said body portion being located equidistant fromthe center of said base, and a resilient circuit controlling elementpositioned within said enclosure and symmetrically located with respectto saidopening, said cam surfaces being operative upon sliding movementof said button in one direction to lock said circuit controlling elementin switch closing position, and also operative to momentarily close saidcircuit when "said switch button is pushed inwardly.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein the angle of inclinationof said convergent cam surfaces is dissimilar, and wherein said circuitcontrolling element comprises a switch contact arm disposed to abutagainst said cam surfaces in a plane normal to the longitudinal axis ofthe base ofsaid switch button.

3. In a combined hand microphone and switch mechanism, an enclosurehaving an elongated opening, a switch loosely located in said openingand having an elongated base of greater length than said opening, thebottom of said base having a downwardly inclined convex cam surfaceextending in a longitudinal direction, a resilient circuit controllingelement positioned to bear yieldably against said cam surface in a planenormal to the longitudinal axis of said base and located in alignmentwith the center of said opening to urge said button upwardly, thelowermost apex of said cam surface being longitudinally ofiset withrespect to the center of said openmg.

4. In a combined microphone and switch device, a housing adapted tocontain a microphone, a switch mechanism in said housing for controllingthe operation of said microphone, said housing having an elongatedopening in one side thereof, a switch actuating button passing looselythrough said opening and movable longitudinally therein between twolimiting positions, said button having a base provided with an inclinedconvex bottom cam surface, said base extending longitudinally beyondeach end of said button to underlie said opening at all positions ofsaid button, a first resilient conductive switch contact arm disposedwithin said housing and pressing upwardly upon said but ton, and asecond resilient conductive switch contact arm located below said firstcontact arm and in alignment therewith for engagement by said firstcontact arm, to close the circuit of said switch when said button iseither moved longitudinally or inwardly.

5. The device as defined in claim 4, wherein said opening and saidbutton are rectangular in shape, and whereby said button may beselectively reversed in end-to-end longitudinal position in said openingto *reverse the alternating sequence of said first switch contact armupon sliding longitudinal movement of said but ton in a given directionin said opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,174,877 Blount Oct. 3, 1939 2,267,364 Pearce Dec. '23, 1941 2,477,516Haas Mar. 8, 1949 2,504,307 Dalton Apr. 18, 1950 2,561,320 Stone et al.July 17, 1951 2,709,723 Breisch et al. May 31, 1955 UNITED sums iwranromen I CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PnmN. 2,891,131 June 16, 1959 Frank E.Runge et a1.

It .i aUhez-e'by. certif ied that error aia'pe are in the printed.apeoiiioation of the above numbered patent requiring correction andthat'the add Letter: Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 4, lines 67 to 73, the list of references cited should appear asshown below instead of as in the patent:

2,174,877 Graubner ,et a1. Oct. 3, 1939 2,267, 364 Blount Dec. 23, 19412,464,184 Pearce Mar. 8, 1949 2,477,516 Haas July 26, 1949 2,504,307Dalton Apr. 18, 1950 2,561,320 Stone et al. July 17, 1951 2,709,723Bre'isch et a1. May 31, 1955 si ned and sealed this 27th day of Qc tober1959.

(SEAL) Attest:

KARL H. AXLINE' ROBERT C. WATSON Atte'sting Officer 1 D I Commissionerof Patents sums mm omen CERTIFICATE OF coRREcTIoN P m'. 2,891,131 June16, 1959 Frank E. Rungeet a1,

' It .i sflhere'by certified. that error ap'pe are in the printedepeoificetion of the above numbered patent requiring correction and,that the aid Letter: Patent should reed es corrected below.

Column 4, lines 67 to 73, the list of references cited should appear asshown below instead of as in the patent:

2,174,877 Greubner' .et a1. Oct. 3, 1939 2,267,364 Blount Dec. 23, 19412,464,184 Pearce Mar. 8, 1949 2,477,516 Haas July 26, 1949 2,504,307Dalton Apr. 18, 1950 2,561,320 -Sto'ne et a1. July 17, 1951 2,709,723Bre'isch et a1. May 31, 1.955

Signed and sealed this 27th day of Gotober 1959.

(SEAL) A'b'beS'b: KARL H. AXLINE ROBERT c, WATSON Attesting Officer 4 I.Commissioner of Patents

